Boo
by Fantasia-the-Crazy
Summary: A CATS Halloween fic. Alonzo takes the kittens for a spooky walk in the woods. One-shot.


"A-a-are you s-s-sure you know where we're g-g-going, Alonzo?" stuttered the little tan-and-white kitten, whose green eyes were stretched wide, darting around as he tried to make something of his surroundings.

"Of course I'm sure, Pouncival," Alonzo replied. He stopped walking and turned to face the six frightened kittens. "I've walked this trail _dozens_ of times before." A bright flash of bluish light encompassed the area as he finished his sentence. The kittens all bunched closer together as he quickly added, "But it's a lot less scary during the day." He turned back around and led the group on their way once again.

The kittens – Pouncival, Etcetera, Electra, Tumblebrutus, Jemima, and Carbucketty – each exchanged a glance before following. A loud boom echoed out of nowhere, causing Jemima and Etcetera to let out a little shriek, and the rest – including Alonzo – to give a start.

"Letting him lead us into this was _your_ idea," Tumblebrutus hissed at Carbucketty as they padded along.

"All he said was 'Let's take a walk in the woods'," the tan kitten tried to defend himself. "I didn't think it would be scary!"

Pouncival cuffed his brother around the ear. "You didn't think a walk at night in some dark, unfamiliar forest on Halloween would be scary?! You bonehead!"

Carbucketty flinched. "Well, you guys didn't have to come."

"You never even told us where we were going!" Electra accused. "How were we supp–"

"What was that?" Etcetera's panicked mew cut in as the cream-colored kitten stopped short. The rest of the group followed her gaze off to the left of the trail just in time to see a shadowy figure dart out of view.

"Alonzo!" they all shouted at once.

He turned around, alarm flaring in his blue eyes. "Yes, I saw that too. Come on, maybe if we leave it alone, it'll leave us alone." They continued walking.

A few more minutes passed in a similar manner, the kittens jumping at every flash of light and every noise. When Tumblebrutus, intending to play a prank, stepped on a twig and snapped it, he was mobbed by the other five, putting an end to the practical jokery.

The woods grew thicker, the trees clustering closer together, their leafless (or mostly leafless) branches reaching out like hands to the seven wanderers. Suddenly, a high, witch-like cackle sounded in the distance, causing everyone to stop and look around wildly. Then, just off to the right of the trail, a strange glowing ball of sparks began to appear. It got bigger and bigger, then flew across the trail without warning, inches from the kittens' faces. It hit a tree on the other side and exploded in a cloud of sparks.

The kittens all stood absolutely still, not blinking, hardly daring to breathe, in a big clump before slowly and shakily proceeding. A minute later, the high-pitched cackle sounded again, only this time much closer. Jemima gasped and threw herself into Carbucketty, who, in turn, threw himself into Tumblebrutus, who threw himself into Pouncival, whose scream hit the same octave the cackle had. All six of them then flung themselves at their black-and-white tourguide, nearly bowling him over.

"ALONZO! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Carbucketty yelled at the top of his lungs.

"Ow . . . um . . . I can't, okay?" he erupted, unable to contain himself any longer. "I'm lost, darn it!"

For a single heartbeat, there was nothing but silence. And then all three queen-kits screamed at once. Alonzo ducked his head and covered his ears, though it did little to block out the noise.

Once it stopped, Pouncival took a swipe at Alonzo's arm, claws unsheathed. "You said you knew where we were going!" he shouted.

Alonzo shook his head, trying to stop his ears ringing, and at the same time attempting to ignore the throbbing pain where Pouncival had hit him. "I guess I took a wrong turn," he admitted, trying to sound calm. Another sinister boom seemed to echo him. "Listen, I think I might know a way out of this," he told them. "I'm going to go look and see if I'm right, and I want you six to _stay here_. Got it?"

"You want us to stay here?" Tumblebrutus squeaked. "Alone? In the woods at night?"

"Unless you want to get even more lost, yes," Alonzo confirmed. "Now, can you get off me . . . please?"

Hesitantly, the kittens obeyed. Once they were back on the ground, Jemima was clinging onto Carbucketty, Etcetera was clinging onto Pouncival, and Electra to Tumblebrutus. They all stared after him until he was all the way out of sight.

* * * * *

Once he was sure he was out of their range of vision, Alonzo let out a breath, finally able to relax as he headed towards his destination; he knew exactly where he was going. On the way, he passed by Mistoffelees. "Hey, great job with the special effects," he complimented heartily.

Misto grinned. "Thanks."

"I'm going to go get ready. Start closing in on 'em, 'kay? Spread the word!"

"Gotcha." The tuxedo tom nodded as Alonzo went on his way again.

A few moments later, he spotted Rumpleteazer, and quickly relayed his message to her. Before leaving, he paused just long enough to say, "And your cackle is amazing! Keep at it!"

A couple more minutes passed, and finally Alonzo found what he was looking for: a mud puddle. Quietly chuckling to himself, he bent down and dipped his front paws in it, then began smearing it over his face, and all around his body. In the dim light, it looked just like blood. After decorating himself with numerous "injuries", Alonzo headed back to where he had left the kittens.

Meanwhile . . .

In the dark, sinister woods in an unrecognizable land, hopelessly lost and without a clue, six terrified shapes sat trembling and holding onto each other. A bright ball of light was circling them with insane speed and loud, thunderish sounds crashed in the background. Evil laughter was coming from all directions, and sinister shadowy figures were darting about, their glowing eyes glaring at the youngsters.

Any given animal can only take so much fear and stress before it completely breaks down, and the Jellicle kittens were no different. They were getting closer to that point with every passing moment, screaming various comments such as "Everlasting Cat save us!" "Oh, Heaviside, what did we do to deserve this?" "Leave us alone! Please!" "No! We're too young to die!" Tears were streaming down most of their faces. But it wasn't over yet.

* * * * *

Hidden in the shadows, Alonzo surveyed the scene. His assistants were surrounding the horrified kittens, and said kittens had no idea that it was their friends who were responsible for this. The looks on their faces nearly made him feel sorry for what they were doing, but he wanted to give them one last scare before they were done. So, with nothing left to lose, he dropped to his knees and screamed.

* * * * *

All of the kittens tensed as blood-curdling screaming erupted from the shadows, as if a cat was being murdered in an inhumanly painful fashion. But that was only half the fright; they knew the voice. They all looked at each other, then yowled in unison, "ALONZO!"

The screams grew louder and more terrifying. They were nearing the point when they were too horrible to psychologically bear when they suddenly stopped. And as if on cue, _everything_ stopped. For a few heartbeats, everything was eerily still and quiet . . . and then a heavily "bleeding" Alonzo collapsed on the ground in front of them.

All at the same time, the kittens let loose with their most ear-shattering screams, some unmentionable words even managing to escape the mouths of Pouncival and Carbucketty. They screamed so long and so loud, one would wonder how they could last without passing out from a lack of breath.

And the next thing they knew, there was laughter everywhere. Mistoffelees, Tugger, Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer, Plato, and Bombalurina had seemingly appeared from nowhere, all cackling hysterically. And a mud-stained – as they now saw – Alonzo had pushed himself up, only to fall over on his back, clutching his stomach as he guffawed like a maniac.

For a moment, the kittens were confused, but then in a flash, it dawned on them. "You mean to say that . . ." Carbucketty began indignantly, " . . . that all this . . . this whole thing was a . . . a setup?" His eyes narrowed. "It _wasn't_ funny!"

Finally, the laughter quieted down. Alonzo got up again, looked the kitten straight in the eyes, and summed it all up in two words:

"Happy Halloween."


End file.
